Conventional decrystallization normally involves application of a substantial amount of heat to a given material for a period of time. Normally, the application of heat is used to anneal, melt, or otherwise induce a phase transformation in a given material or material compound, at least at its surface. These heat treatments generally melt, or otherwise render amorphous, the surface of an object.
Such decrystallization methods can be limiting, in part because of the time and energy required, and in part because of the complex phase transformations needed to produce important ceramics, such as BaTiO3. To produce BaTiO3, for example, BaCO3 and TiO2 can be mixed and heated, which can require several tens of hours at temperatures at or above 1,000 degrees Celsius. Even after such an extensive heat treatment, only one phase of BaTiO3 may be observed, and this phase may not be glassy nor noncrystalline.
Another reported decrystallization technique applied microwave energy to produce a multiphase BaTiO3 in a matter of minutes at a temperature of about 700 degrees Celsius. This technique, however, required a substantial amount of sustained microwave energy and placed the specimens in particular microwave “hot spots” (i.e., regions of high magnetic field intensity).